Benedict’s La Strata

Not a chain!!! So hard to get quality food from unique restaurants in the suburbs. This place has great food that is unique and delicious.

I have not even ordered and I am in love! Great atmosphere friendly hostess and a positive waitress. Nice start! Menu is filled with an array of delights. I narrowed it down to four options in the first few minutes. Make that six. No maybe seven. Lol this could take some time.
Chicken pot pie was delicious. I will be back to try something else.

I cant say enough about Benedict’s. This is by far one of the best breakfast places I have been. Everything I order is amazing. I go here at least once a week just to try something new.
The espresso is one of the best I have had and is very fair priced. The staff is very friendly and will treat you like family. If you are looking for a nice, clean place to have breakfast, look no further.

The food was good here and I love the amount of options on the menu. The only critique is that the breakfast potatoes came out cold. I assume they were pre cooked and their temperature was not maintained well in the kitchen.
The reason I am giving this place 5 stars is that Whitney (our waitress) and Larry (the manager) were great! We needed a change of an order and they were really receptive and the food came out really quickly.

Ever since this place opened in downtown Cryatal Lake, it has become the «go to» place in town (and surrounding areas) for breakfast, brunch and lunch. The food is delicious, the menu variety is vast and teh service is superb. What more would you want out an eating establishment? The atmosphere is casual with a normal, conversational noise level. One of my personal favorites is the Andouille sausage and grits with shrimp added for a wonderful start to the day.

We went for brunch yesterday. There were four of us.
The service was perfect and it was very busy, around 12 :10
We ordered the «ROTHSCHILD» eggs benedict and it was served the way that we had requested and was excellant.
We are now customers and will return.

Honestly, this is probably the best breakfast restaurant I’ve eaten at in the area. I’ve had the chance to eat here a few times, and every time the food is great. My only complaint — and the reason this review isn’t 5 stars– is that after the meal, I felt kind of rushed out by the waitresses. This has happened the last few times I’ve been here, and the people I am with make the same comment about being rushed out.
Besides that, this restaurant is great!

I always thought of Benedict’s as a breakfast place, who knew they serve a great dinner as well. My wife had chicken pot pie topped with puffed pastry. It was warm, fresh and very satisfying on a cold night. I opted for an eight ounce burger. The fresh grass fed beef was moist and delicious, no need to add bacon, cheese, ect to give this burger flavor. The burger was served with kettle chips and an amazing slaw. The slaw has your standard cabbage, but then adds red and green apples, fresh cherries and cantaloupe — it was wonderful. Bottom line: great service, great food. Was a real pleasure.

Fantastic food. The Benedict’s chop salad with chicken is the best.

This is the most amazing spot for breakfast, brunch, lunch AND dinner! I am sure my friends get sick of me saying «let’s go to Benedicts» but there’s seriously such great food at great prices and great people to meet while you’re there that why would you go anywhere else. I love any and all of the eggs benedict dishes but if poached eggs aren’t your thing try the Louisiana skillet or the crepes! So good!

Very satisfied. I finally got the chance to come in and have breakfast after hearing good things about this restaurant. I got the zucchini cakes with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. So good and filling. Also, our waiter Bonnie was so sweet and attentive. I don’t think I’ve ever had such great service. Highly recommend!

Benedict’s La Strata is a terrific place to enjoy some fabulous Italian cuisine and excellent service. My son of four years and 11 months absolutely loves the angel hair pasta and sauce. In addition the atmosphere is very put together and makes for a perfect stage to indulge in a very well prepared Italian meal. Be sure to try the bruschetta appetizer, it has numerous delicious options to choose from that are incredible and very well thought out. I would recommend this great find to all. Merry Christmas to the staff of Benedict’s La Starta.

Stopped here for brunch while nearby for business — I wish I lived closer because I’d have to come here a dozen times to try everything that looks good on the menu. The menu is huge — ten different omelettes, ten different benedicts, plus stratas, fritattas, quiches, skillets, crepes, waffles, french toast, and pancakes. And if that’s not enough, they have salads and sandwiches too.
I got the corn & brie frittata with avocado salsa (on the specials menu), my husband got the breakfast tacos. The frittata was an amazing flavor combo, and really unique. I love brie, and the combo of brie, roasted corn, and avocado was perfect. The frittata came with oven roasted potatoes and a huge piece of freshly baked toast. The breakfast tacos were just what they sound like, tortillas stuffed full of eggs, cheese, and veggies. Only disappointment is that they were out of blue corn tortillas, but the food was so good he didn’t notice until he was halfway through the dish.
If I’m ever anywhere near Crystal Lake again, I’m coming back here to eat.

The best breakfast place around. Phenomenal food, great menu, and Intelligencia coffee!!! Try the Lousiana Skillet

Usually the go to breakfast spot in the area. Not the cheapest but everything is good. Chicken chilaquiles on fleek.

I always love coming to Benedict’s whenever I want to spend some quality time with good friends. I’ve tried so many of their breakfasts, salads and sandwiches and they are all amazing! The servers are always great about being flexible about the ingredients in most menu items; a lot of my friends have dietary restrictions and they never have any problem finding something delicious that works for them! Great service, great food, a wonderful little place in the heart of downtown Crystal Lake. They’ve made a loyal customer out of me!

I came here for my husbands 50^th bday brunch. I had a party of 12 and reserved, or so I thought the tables by the window. And it was a weekend so very busy, I understand, but after 30 minutes past my reserved time, we are still standing by the bar waiting to be seated.
The food took forever to come out, I had a server dump a bloody mary on me, and she forgot to remove it from my bill! Who does that? I thought it was a great place because I had been here several times for breakfast with my sister. We loved it and great service. That is the difference between weekday staff and weekend I guess. I have not been back there since. If you go for just a couple people, fine, but I would never host another event there. Go elsewhere, they cannot handle the business they already have on a weekend. So, 3 stars if you want a semi costly breakfast if you go during the weekdays. 1 star if you wanted something special for an anniversary or milestone birthday, find another place.

First timers… We had smoked salmon benedict, rueben and kids had pancakes. It all tasted great! The food came out quickly and our service was excellent. We will definitely be going back.

Menu has so many delicious sounding options that it was truly difficult to decide what to get. Highly recommend the apple bacon Brie omelette and the mushroom omelette.
Wait staff was very friendly and service was prompt. Also has a great covered patio for outside seating!
All in all, delicious experience!

I had been craving blueberry pancakes since Terri and I watched «Pulp Fiction» last weekend.
I found myself in Crystal Lake and based on the positive reviews here on Unilocal (thanks Unilocalers), I felt I would be good to give Benedict’s a try.
As another reviewer mentioned, Benedict’s serves Chicago’s Intelligentsia coffee, which would cause even a discriminating coffee drinker like Mr. Wolf to raise his cup in salute. I seldom have my coffee as Winston does with «lots of cream and lots of sugar», but I do indulge a little dab of cream in my java, which at Benedict’s is REAL cream instead of some chemical mess.
As luck would have it– they had some amazing seasonal creations on the menu, such as: Strawberry Cheese Cake French Toast, Pretzel Pancakes and Chocolate Waffle with Strawberries (see photo) but I stuck to my guns (difficult) and ordered the blueberry pancakes, which «hit the spot» (as Jules might say).
The hostess and wait staff were excellent as «Buddy Holley” — and it was very much appreciated that there was a pot of that great coffee on my table rather than having to wait for refills.
I would say overall that this was a delicious and enjoyable choice for breakfast– I’d suggest that you give Benedict’s a try when you are in the area.
I will be back and will bring Terri («Honey Bunny») with me so we can order 2 different things and share, also known as eating off of the other person’s plate!